South Side regains title in thriller

Time was running out quickly on South Side’s season, but the thought of a second straight runner-up finish in Nassau Class A never crossed senior Julie Beyar’s mind and she made sure it didn’t happen.

Beyar’s direct free kick blast with 11 seconds remaining in the second mandatory 10-minute overtime kept the Lady Cyclones alive and junior Meghan Hines scored off a scramble 1:04 into golden-goal overtime to beat top-seeded Division, 3-2, in a thrilling girls’ soccer county championship game played before a crowd of 1,000 at Tully Park in New Hyde Park on Nov. 9.

“I practice free kicks all the time and have a tendency to hit it over the net,” said Beyar, “so I wanted to make sure I put it on frame. I was hoping for a rebound, but it went right in and I started screaming.”

On the winning goal, Hines broke toward the cage after a nifty give-and-go with freshman Victoria Reis. Division goalkeeper Gina Fader (10 saves) made the initial save but couldn’t get a handle on the rebound, and Hines tapped it in.

“It’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever experienced winning,” Hines said. “We knew we could do it. Division’s a great team, but we never gave up.”     

It’s the 14th county title in 15 years for second-seeded South Side (12-2-4), which forced overtime with 7:57 left in regulation on sophomore Christina Klaum’s eighth playoff goal in four games. Junior goalkeeper Kelsey Berki made seven saves.

“Unbelievable,” Lady Cyclones coach Shannon McEntee said. “These girls worked so hard and have so much determination. They wanted this so much and just refused to lose.”

After more than 45 minutes of back-and-forth action and near misses for both sides, Division (14-1-3) broke through with 33:34 remaining and it was no surprise Krista Fitzpatrick orchestrated the goal off a set play. She blasted a free kick that reached Berki from 45 yards away and Maggie Carew cashed in the rebound for a 1-0 lead.

“We know how dangerous they are on set plays,” said McEntee. “That’s their strength and we did our best to minimize their chances.”